Quote:
Originally Posted by stagger_lee
Put it this way, LCE is top of the line. They build 4 cylinders for racing. You get what you pay for, $6k gets you 197hp at the wheels and a bulletproof motor. I would not want a turbo motor on a rock crawler though. More desert racing, long travel, circle track. Most motors/turbos don't boost until about 2500 rpms unless its a tiny turbo. You have to keep the engine up to speed to get the power.
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I have to agree that LCE is top of the line and makes a great product. They are pround of their products though, and seem to price a lot of them that way. I guess the way you have to look at it is your getting a fully rebuild racing engine (like you were saying). Most of the engines LCE are building are set up for racing classes were you have to keep that engine (no engine swaps), so you spend the money and your one of the fastest in your class.
I agree with a lot of the other people here when I say that a 3.4 swap would be a smarter way to spend the money. The 3.4 is a better motor to start out with if your going to be looking for more power down the road, it's also going to be more cost effictive. The one thing you have to remember when you look at the cost of the LCE engine is that it's a completly rebuilt racing engine. Yea, you can swap in a Supra engine, 3RZ or 3.4 cheeper or for the same price but these are stock, used engines. They might make the same or more power but it's really not the same thing. I'm sure that there is almost as much labor in one of the LCE 22r engines as there is in a built V8 engine.
I'm in the process of building a 86' Turbo 4Runner as my daily driver, rock crawler and all around expedition style rig. It has an LCE short block set up for the turbo along with some other goodie's. While it's not a power house, it does get around really well. I have not noticed any problems with the turbo on the trail. It doesn't boost up very often (on the trail) but that's not an issue, it's pretty much like a stock 22RE. Also, along with RPM, engine load plays a large factor in how hard the turbo is working. I can cruise along a flat highway at a higher RPM and have very little boost, while around town going up a large hill the turbo starts to spool up a lot faster and harder. On the trail, in low range, there is very little load on the engine because of all the extra torque created by the extra gearing. The reason I like the turbo is for the trip to, and from the trail. That's really where it makes a differance.
